Demolishing The Wall 2020
DIY / General Chat / Home Improvement

Destruction, Destruction, Destruction. A Smashing Time.

John - Gentleman Crafter31 Comments

Not at all craft related but kinda designy in a way, eventually.

This week I made a start on the garden transformation from raggedy grass patch to couture courtyard. Or at least, that’s the plan…

A grassy area with a large stone wall.

This wall has been bugging me since moving in. It blocks morning sun in the winter and prevents afternoon summer sun from reaching the mini secret garden on the other side.

So, I’ve decided to smash the heck out of it and create a rustic garden area behind it and then, in the grassy bit that you can see in the image above, create a ‘courtyard’.

Sounds fancy, eh? Yeah, well, we’ll see how it turns out later in the year, lol.

First job was the smashy smashy of the wall.

I started to carefully chip away at the cement. I was hoping to keep the head stones as they have a lovely and unique shape and could be used to reline the ‘new’ lower wall.

Close up of a stone wall that is being demolished.
Close up of a headstone from a garden wall that is being demolished.

First one ‘successful’.

At this point, things started taking an ominous turn in that NONE of the darn bricks were coming out in one piece. Just lots of ‘bits’. In fact, the only thing that was coming out properly was the cement from inbetween the bricks.

Bum.

A pile of broken bricks.
A partly demolished wall.

Also, naffin nora, this is hard work. Stuff this manually casual chipping, time for the big guns.

Various electric pummeling and manual smashy smashy bouts later and I was making ‘progress’.

Time for a cuppa. Thankfully the postman turned up with a ‘care package’ from the mother – cheers mum!

Refreshed and on a sugar rush, I continued to whack, smash, chip, chisel and generally give the wall some real heck and made LOADS of progress…

Well, let’s put ‘some progress’ as the official title on that one.

Good start though and was lots of fun!

It’s not going to be a daily job, as I’m pooped and me shoulder hurts – moan moan etc – so I’ll keep you up to date with how things are going sporadically.

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to sharing more with you soon!

Bye for now.

J :)

31 thoughts on “Destruction, Destruction, Destruction. A Smashing Time.”

  2. A great way to get rid of any pent up stress, knock the heck out of a brick wall…wonderful, I could do with one of those sometimes. Anytime your feeling a bit stressed, if you ever do if course, pop out and smash a few more bits of that wall it will work wonders. 😊

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  3. Outdoor work suits you. You look as if you are really enjoying yourself regardless of the aches and pains. You’ll develop muscles that you never knew you had. It will all be worth it though. Can not beat a bit of sun on your face to give you r mood a boost. X

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  4. Well John your talents never cease to amaze me……landscape gardener…wow. You are going to make an a cracking canvas to create your dream garden and extend your living space. Btw your outlook there is beautiful and very you. Don’t forget the deep heat cream on your next shopping trip ha ha

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  5. Good time to start with the garden John, when finished you can enjoy the spring/summer sun in your lovely garden. Can’t wait to see more of it an dI hope you took a good hot shower when you finished this hard work, that’t very good for all your sore muscles.
    Have a great weekend.

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  7. Happy New Year!
    Wow your doing a great job. After I have done too much I find a hot shower or bath helps to ease body aches and pains. Looking forward to seeing the finished result. :)

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  9. Well John, you’ve started & of course you will finish….eventually! What a job you’ve taken on though. Take it easy & give your muscles time to adjust to such heavy work. I think we’re all routing for you & will be watching & waiting avidly for the next instalment. XX

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  10. Looks like it is going to be hard work, I would cut the time in half by leaving the last 18 ins
    and putting a few slabs on the top to make a seating area or herb shelf. You could even paint it a pretty colour of your own choice.

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  11. Good idea. I like the sound of your garden plans. I’ll keep up with your progress. Happy destruction. Shame you don’t know someone with one of those giant metal balls for smashing down buildings though.

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  12. Good luck with that task! It looks like one of those ‘good ideas’ that you end up wishing you hadn’t started! I do that all the time! – But you will get there eventually after lot of cursing and determination. In the meantime believe! 😂 Just don’t over do it or you will start to hate yourself! Little steps and all that stuff 😘xx

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  14. Looking forward to hearing your progress, I’m sure all the hard work will be with it. Yes it is a lovely wall with the ivy/ greenery on it, but the sunshine will be beneficial.
    Take care.
    Happy New Year

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  18. Love to get different posts from you. This is going to be a good one to follow, possibly more so for us sitting in the warm, than you out there in the bitter cold. Sorry, only joking, you’ll soon be warm doing that, and look at the satisfaction you will get from it as you do it. Keep us “posted” xx

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